Saturday, March 1, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The test was administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Although state participation in the test is voluntary, the 1995 Legislature guaranteed state funds for students' participation.
More than 2,000 students in Nevada completed the test, including 170 private school students. It was the first time Nevada students had participated.
"The average achievement in mathematics of Nevada's fourth-grade students is typical of the region," said state school chief Mary Peterson. "However, we should not be willing to accept Nevada's ranking of 31 among 43 states as the best that our children can do."
Nationally, test scores showed continued improvement. The average score for fourth graders was 213 in 1990; in 1996, it reached 224. Nevada's average score in 1996 was 218.
Students in the midwest and northeast continued to outperform their counterparts in the west and southeast. Fourth-graders in Maine, Minnesota and Connecticut tied for first place, while students in Mississippi, Guam and Washington, D.C., had the poorest scores.
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